The tavern chosen for their post-work drinks spoke to the amount of money their bosses had to spend. Even from the door, Everitt could tell just how expensive some of those bottles on the top shelf were. It smelled like mahogany and cologne by the entrance, despite there just being women at the host desk. The group of journalists and assistants said nothing as their superiors spoke to the hosts, then walked them over to a large booth towards the back of the place.

There were rustic chandeliers that gave a warm, yet upper class glow to the place, and only black wood surfaces for tables. Everitt was surprised that each table wasn’t pre-set with napkins, glasses, and silverware. Well, the glasses were there, but that was about it.

Loudly chattering, everyone took their seats, leaving just two at the end of the booth, both at the left corner. Everitt looked around and realised that only he and Danai had yet to sit down. She looked over at him, and he could smell some kind of nervousness in her scent as they stood there. He hoped it wasn’t out of fear of him.

Everitt gestured toward the booth bench, “after you.”

Danai gave him a sheepish smile, “oh, no, you know them better than I do.”

She didn’t want to sit between him and one of the more powerful members of the company. If this really was about networking, as Hal had suggested, then she was more in need of the time than Everitt was. He was familiar with his bosses, and spent plenty of time with them. Danai was young in the world of broadcasting, and this would be a good opportunity with her to secure some loyalty. Why he was suddenly concerned about her future was something Everitt wasn’t going to think about right then.

“I insist,” he said simply, and gave her no choice as he waited for Danai to take the seat.

The scent of pleased omega as she walked past him didn’t go unnoticed.

For a while, Everitt focused on Miranda and another anchor, June, who were seated on his right and in front of him. They would occasionally engage with a few others, but never Danai. Everitt couldn’t count the amount of times he gazed over at her as she laughed and conversed with Patrick, Theo, and several others. It frustrated him that, in all that time, he never saw her meeting his eyes. It had been almost two hours since they sat down.

Well, all that was until the people at the table had more drinks in them. The conversation started to devolve into ramblings about their personal lives, and hobbies like fishing that Danai didn’t seem to care for. Everitt noticed her coming closer to him to create some distance between the older man beside her. That was the thing about drinking with Theo; he lost all sense of personal space, and his breath reeked. Danai must’ve noticed, because her hand hovered just in front of her nose as the man laughed at some unfunny joke.

“Could you excuse me? I have to run to the washroom,” Danai said politely, quickly turning to Everitt with a plastic smile.

He moved out of the booth to give her the room she needed, and watched for longer than was necessary as she went to get some privacy. Everitt scooted back into the booth, placing himself in the spot that Danai had just occupied. Theo didn’t even notice the move, just continuing to go on about how great of a golfer he was in his younger years. 

“I wonder how everyone else would do in a round of golf,” Everitt said with an easy smile.

Theo chuckled, “I can only speak for my buddy Hal!”

Everitt thought about that, and then an idea came to mind. “Why not make it a company event? Between Future and Visionary. A friendly golf tournament.”

He saw the gears turning in the older man’s head as he considered the suggestion, and Everitt mentally patted himself on the back. If this golf tournament really happened, and was successful, Everitt was sure the whole thing would gain him major points.

“You’re a sharp kid, eh?” Theo laughed as he clapped a hand on Everitt’s shoulder.

Despite the surprising force of the friendly gesture, Everitt chuckled politely. The boisterous old man didn’t keep him from detecting the scent of tension behind him. When he looked back, there was Danai. She gave him a quizzical look, and he realised the scent wasn’t about him, but the inebriated men on the other side of him. 

“Sorry to make you move again,” Danai apologised, but Everitt shook his head.

He nodded towards the bench, “you can take my spot.”

Surprise flashed over her face, but then she nodded and sat down without another word. Everitt noticed the small smile on Patrick’s face while he watched them, but the assistant refocused on his conversation when he caught Everitt’s eyes. 

For whatever reason, there seemed to be less space than before she got up, and Everitt couldn’t help that their legs and arms were touching.

Not that he minded.

As good as he was at schmoozing, Everitt was getting tired of it. There wasn’t much in the conversation for him, and these people were starting to make less and less sense. He glanced over at Danai, who just seemed to be listening to everyone else.

“You still drinking that bourbon?” He asked, tossing a look at her nearly untouched drink as he pushed it, along with two taller glasses, towards her.

Danai sighed, “yeah, I’m more interested in my root beer and water. Someone on the other end of the table recommended this.” She pointed a finger at the small glass in front of her.

“Not much of a drinker?”

She shook her head, “I’ve never gotten the appeal of alcohol. Maybe it’s ‘cause I have a sweet tooth, I dunno.”

Everitt looked down at her, his nose filling with her increasingly pleasant scent. It was a welcome distraction from the pores that were excreting alcohol and buffalo wings nearby. A sweet tooth suited someone who smelled as sweet as she did.

Danai met his gaze, and laughed nervously. “What?”

He shook his head, “must’ve zoned out.”

She gave him a look he couldn’t quite understand, then looked away before taking a swig of her liquor. Dani grimaced when the liquid hit her throat, and Everitt had a hard time stifling his laughter. She coughed a few times before glaring at the alpha.

“Enjoying my misery?”

Everitt calmed himself enough to reply and, just as he opened his mouth to do so, Dan started coughing up another storm. He couldn’t help but laugh even more, and she seemed to see the humour in the situation, too.

Her laughter made the coughing harder on her throat, and she had tears in her eyes when it was finally over.

“Oh, dear God,” Danai exclaimed. She took a few sips of her water this time, opting for the neutral beverage.

“You must really hate the taste of whiskey,” Everitt smiled.

Danai fixed him with a pointed look, “well, why don’t you try it? You seem to be used to the taste, the way you’re laughing at me.”

Everitt smirked, “yeah, well, I’ve been in enough bars in my time to handle a little bourbon.” 

He picked up her glass, and Danai watched as he brought it to her lips and took a sip. Everitt thought he saw her watching his throat as he swallowed, but her eyes were back on the glass when he refocused on her. 

The taste wasn’t horrible, but it was not great. As the brown liquid made its way down, warming his throat, Everitt realised that it’d been a while since he had liquor that wasn’t mixed with something. His usual at bars was rum & coke, scotch & soda, or a cabernet. Straight bourbon was on a different level, and without any woes to drown out, it just felt a bit unpleasant.

Danai seemed to sense the differing opinions going on in his head, and he caught her amusement when he looked back at her.

“Yummm,” she teased, bumping shoulders with Everitt.

He shrugged, “okay, I can see why you were struggling.”

Danai took a sip of her root beer, “you can have it, Everitt. I’m good with my soda and water.”

When she said his name, it dawned on Everitt that he rarely heard her call him by it. He liked the way it sounded coming from him, especially amidst the banter they had going on. His fingers tapped the outside of the glass as he watched her.

“You should call me Ev,” he said casually, not missing Danai’s raised brows. He went on, “Everitt is too long.”

She stared at him for a while before she said, “Well, then, call me Nai.”

It was Everitt’s turn to raise his brows.

“‘Nai’? I thought everyone called you ‘Dani’?”

Danai rolled her eyes, “yeah, anyone that doesn’t ask me whether or not they can give me a nickname. Ever notice that ‘Dani’ just sounds like the lazier version of Danai?”

He tipped his head, considering. “Good point.”

She continued, “it was my idea to call my segment ‘On the Nai Side’. Originally, they were really excited about ‘At Dawn with Dani’ when they were thinking of having me go somewhere during the breakfast show. But, once that was fucked, I was able to suggest a name that I actually like.”

Everitt blinked at her choice of words, and Danai chuckled.

“What? Never knew I could swear?”

“Can you blame me? I’ve only ever seen the very serious and professional side of you,” he reasoned. 

Danai met his eyes, “that’s all you’ve seen?”

His eyes darkened as visions from most of their meetings came to his mind. He felt her leg rub up against his, more intentionally than a forced proximity, but her eyes were calm. The feeling made him curse under his breath, a sound so quiet he wouldn’t have heard it if he wasn’t the one to say it.

Was it getting hotter in that tavern?

“Well,” Danai moved her leg away from his, and he missed the feeling, “you always seem like an arrogant ass to me, so I get it.”

Everitt sputtered, “a-arrogant ass?!”

She laughed at him, and he was an engaged audience when she explained why she had thought so. They talked about how they’d ended up at their respective companies, food, and were on their favourite movies when Everitt suggested they sit somewhere else on their own. Some of the group had already gone home, and those that were left were proving to be shitty company. He felt bad for the people responsible for getting them home, but not nearly bad enough to stick around and help.

“You’ve never played Uncharted?!” Danai screamed at the bar next to Everitt, her hands almost hitting him as she used them to express her complete and utter shock.

Ev shook his head, a smile on his face, “the only games I play are COD and 2K.”

Danai rested her chin in her palms, “okay, putting aside that ridiculously small list for now, what do you play 2K and COD on?”

“My PS4,” he replied as a matter-of-fact.

She crossed her arms on the bar, her head now on them like she was ready to give up on the man in front of her. “Oh my GOD...”

Everitt grinned, “what now?”

Danai lifted her head just enough for him to hear her when she confirmed, “you have a PlayStation 4, the Sony game system that Uncharted was literally made for, and all you play on it is Call of Duty and basketball.”

He nodded, “yeah.”

“I didn’t think I’d be having this conversation today,” Danai sat up, shaking her head. 

She was acting like she’d found out some sordid secret about Everitt that had left her reeling. Her reaction made him smile, though, and he loved that he got to see her so animated. It felt like a privilege considering how much this version of her contrasted the one he’d been seeing at work. Of course, her having a work persona made sense; getting ahead required some calculation and care. But he wouldn’t have guessed that she’d be like this. He hadn’t laughed as much as he had with Danai in weeks, and it would be hard when they eventually had to leave the tavern. 

“Sorry to be such a disappointment,” Everitt said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Danai waved a finger, “I’m gonna give you a thorough education about story-mode games. There’s a whole world of adventure out there waiting for you, if you’ll just reach out and take it.”

He countered, “ says Miss hasn’t-seen-any-of-the-Bourne-or-Mission-Impossible-movies.”

“...fair enough.”

They sat in comfortable silence, sipping on their drinks, until Danai snapped her fingers and grinned.

“You should come over to my place tomorrow. Unless you work on Saturdays. We’ll get all of this shit settled then,” she suggested. 

The laugh that came after made Everitt wonder if she was joking, but when he asked if she was, she laughed again. Danai had had a few drinks; not enough to get her drunk, but enough to make her happier than usual. Still, writing her contact info and address in his phone made him think she was probably serious about the whole thing.

“We’ll see,” he told her as he put his info into her phone, unsure about how much of her word he could trust right then.

She put a hand on his thigh as she gave him a brilliant smile, and Everitt’s heart skipped.

He swallowed, then looked up to the heavens for some kinda guidance. Danai Martel would be the death of him.